Roller conveyer



March 6, 1934. E, 'sT ET AL 1,949,817

ROLLER CONVEYER Filed Oct. 8, 1931 foabq HAL 5y Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES ROLLER CONVEYER Earl Stonefield and Robert Haley, Louisville, Ky., assignors to Logan Co. Inc., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application October 8, 1931, Serial No. 567,732

2 Claims.

This invention relates to roller conveyers, and more particularly to a shaft for supporting the rollers of a conveyer to permit the latter to rotate in the usual way to effect the movement of articles or packages thereover.

In the manufacture of roller conveyers, it is the common practice to provide a pair of parallel side rails having openings therein to support transverse parallel rods or shafts, and the rollers are journaled on these shafts. The rollers are mounted on anti-friction bearings in order to provide free movement of the rollers about the shafts, and the latter are fixed against rotation and material longitudinal movement with respect to the side rails. Relatively expensive means have been provided for supporting the shafts in the side rails to prevent rotation and longitudinal movement of the shafts.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a simple type of roller supporting shaft which may be quickly and easily placed in position without the use of separate fastening means.

A further object is to provide a unitary roller supporting rod or shaft which is adapted to be inserted into operative position between a pair of conveyer rails by being inserted through an opening in one rail and moved longitudinally into operative position with its other end engageable and self-locking in a suitable opening provided in the other rail, whereby facility of assembling and cheapness of manufacture is provided.

A further object is to provide a rod or shaft of the character referred to which has one end so altered in shape as to permit it to be driven into position in a coacting opening in one of the side rails of the conveyer, the shaft end referred to being operative for automatically locking itself in operative position when driven to such position.

A further object is to provide a roller shaft having one end tapered to facilitate entrance into its coacting opening and being split longitudinally and altered in shape inwardly of the tapered portion whereby it automatically snaps into position in its coacting opening.

A further object is to provide a shaft of the character referred to which is self-anchoring when driven into operative position to prevent material longitudinal movement of the shaft, and wherein the end of the shaft referred to coacts with the opening in the adjacent side rail to prevent rotation of the shaft.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing we have shown one embodiment of our invention. In thisshowing,

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through a portion of a roller conveyer, parts being shown in elevation and parts being broken away,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the same,

Figure 3 is a detail section on line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the shafts, a portion of the shaft being broken away, and,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of one of the conveyer side rails.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals 10 and 11 designate a pairof channel iron side rails of the usual construction employed in connection with conveyers-of various types, and. the side rails are secured as at 12 to the upper faces of transverse tie rails 13' arranged at intervals along the side rails in accordance with the usual practice. The structure referred to is supported in any suitable manner (not shown). The side 3 rail 10 is provided with a circular opening 14, while the rail 11 is provided with an opening 15 having parallel side edges 16 and arcuate topand bottom walls 17 arranged coaxial with the opening 14.

A plurality of shafts each indicated as a whole by the numeral 18 are adapted to be arranged between the rails 10 and 11 with their ends supported in a manner to be described in the openings l4 and 15. Each shaft 18 is adapted to rotatably support a conveyer roller 19 in any desired manner. In the present instance, the roller 19 is shown as being provided with anti-friction bearings indicated as a whole by the numeral 20, and since these bearings may be of any desired type, they have not been specifically illustrated.

One of the shafts has been illustrated in detail in Figure 4 of the drawing, and the relation of the shaft to the other elements of the apparatus is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. As shown, the shaft is cylindrical in cross section throughout the greater portion of its length but has its end adjacent the side rail 11 altered in shape to enact with the opening 15 to retain it therein to prevent rotation and substantial longitudinal 105 movement of the shaft. Referring to Figures 1,

3 and 4, it will be noted that the last named end of the shaft is provided with opposite flat faces 21 which converge toward their inner ends and terminate against shoulders 22 spaced a substantial 110 distance inwardly of the end of the shaft. The extremity of the shaft is provided with relatively short tapered faces 23 which intersect the faces 21 in parallel edges 24.

As shown in Figure 3, the edges 24 are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the distance between the side edges 16 of the opening 15 of the side rail 11. Accordingly, when the shaft is in operative position, it cannot be withdrawn from the rail 11 except under force, and in order to permit sufficient contraction of the edges 24 to permit the shaft to be inserted in position, the shaft is provided-in its end with a longitudinal slot 25 extending into the end of the shaft a substantial distance past the transverse plane of the edges 24, as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4. At a point slightly inwardly of the edges 24, the cross-sectional shape and size of the shaft is substantially exactly the same as the shape and size of the opening 15, and accordingly it will be apparent that the stiffness of the metal of the shaft is such as to prevent insertion or removal of the end of the shaft into the opening 15 except upon the application of force thereto.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoing description. The slotted end of the shaft is first inserted through the opening 14 from the outside thereof, and the roller 19 and bearings 20 are assembled thereon in the usual manner. The beveled faces 23 are inserted into the opening 15, and these faces act as guides to facilitate the placing of the shaft in operative position, as will be apparent. When the end of the shaft has been inserted in the opening 15,

" the shaft may be driven into operative position by striking the opposite end thereof with a hammer or similar implement. The application of force, with the beveled faces 23 engaging the side edges 16 of the opening 15, causes sufficient contraction of the end of 'the shaft to permit the latter to move wholly into the opening 15. The contraction referred to is permitted by virtue of the slot 25, as will be apparent.

The shaft is driven longitudinally until the shoulders 22 engage against the inner face of the rail 11 whereupon further longitudinal movement of the shaft is prevented. Since the opening 15 corresponds in shape and size generally to the portion of the shaft arranged therein, it will be apparent that the shaft will be effectually prevented from rotating. Moreover, since the portion of the shaft lying between the rail 11 and the edges 24 is somewhat larger than the opening 15, the shaft will be prevented from moving longitudinally in the opposite direction. The face portions of the end of the shaft lying between the slot 25 and the faces 21 and 23 are not disturbed from their true cylindrical shape, and accordingly it will be apparent that the altered end of the shaft readily may be inserted through the opening 14 in the manner described.

While the slot 25 permits contraction of the edges 24 to a sufficient extent to permit the shaftto be inserted in position, it will be apparent that the relative rigidity of the metal of the shaft readily prevents accidental longitudinal displacement of the shaft. It has been found that the device operates perfectly in actual practice, and it provides a unitary self-contained device which efficiently anchors itself in operative position without the use of separate fastening means such as nuts, cotter pins, etc. It also will be apparent that the simplicity of the device and the lack of separate fastening means permits the device to be economically manufactured, while the facility with which the shaft is placed in operative position materially reduces the labor costs involved in the installation of the conveyor.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention herewith shown and described may be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

We claim:

1. The combination with a pair of parallel rails provided respectively with circular and non-circular openings, said last named opening having opposite arcuate concentric edge walls and inter mediate parallel walls, and a load supporting conveyer roller adapted to be arranged between the rails in axial alinement with said openings, of a solid supporting shaft for the roller formed uniform in cross-sectional shape from one extremity to a point adjacent the other end of the shaft, the last named end of said shaft having opposite tapered faces terminating at the extremity of the shaft in lines parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance less than the space between the parallel side edges of said non-circular opening, the inner extremities of said tapered faces terminating in parallel edges spaced apart a distance greater than the space between the parallel side edges of said non-circular opening, said shaft having its last named end split longitudinally from its extremity to a point coincident with the outer face of the adjacent rail and inwardly of said last named edges whereby the latter are adapted to be flexed inwardly for insertion through said non-circular opening, the portion of the shaft lying inwardly of said last named edges being reduced to a width smaller than the space between the parallel side edges of said non-circular opening, the last named end of the shaft being provided at the inner extremity of the reduced portion thereof with shoulders lying within the limits of the circumference of the cylindrical portion of the shaft and engageable against the inner face of the rail provided with the noncircular opening.

2. A solid supporting shaft for conveyer rollers formed uniform in cross-section from one extremity to a point spaced from the other end, the last named end of the shaft having opposite faces tapered whereby the shaft decreases in size toward its extremity, said shaft being provided inwardly of said tapered portion with opposite tapered feces converging toward each other away from the adjacent end of the shaft, the first and second named tapered faces intersecting in lines lying in a common plane transversely of the shaft and spaced from the extremity of the last named end. thereof, said shaft having the last named end thereof split longitudinally from its extremity to a point inwardly of said transverse plane, the inner ends of the second named tapered portions of the shaft terminating in shoulders forming one longitudinal limit of the cylindrical portions of the shaft and lying in a common plane transversely of the shaft, the portion of said shaft lying in the plane of the outer face of the rail provided with the non-circular opening being substantially of the same size and shape as such opening.

EARL STONEFIELD. ROBERT HALEY. 

